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The first Netherlands stamps appeared in January 1852. The country name did not appear on the postage stamps of the Netherlands until 1864. Before then, all the postage stamps were inscribed with only "POST ZEGEL" (English: "POSTAGE STAMP") and the denomination.
Classical stamps of the Netherlands can be as simple or as complex as collectors wish to make them.
For the person that takes the approach of collecting one example of each stamp of the Netherlands, this can be a very inexpensive venture. During the reign of King William III, only 33 major postage stamp types were issued, and none of them, if collected in used condition, are unreasonably expensive.
For the person that takes the specialist approach, this can be a very different scenario. Many of the classical Netherlands stamps were printed from multiple plates, some of which can be re-constructed, and there are many different shades of many of the stamps, some of which are very rare. Add on plate varieties, errors, gutter pairs, proofs, specimens, postal history, postmarks, etc., and the classical issues of the Netherlands can become a lifetime project.
For much of the 20th Century, the Netherlands was a very conservative stamp issuing country. True, there are a number of long definitive postage stamp sets with various printing varieties, but these pretty much only appear upon the accession of a new monarch, or when the appearance of a long-reigning monarch changed substantially over the years. The number of stamp issues of the Netherlands during the 20th Century were no where near the volumes of issues printed by other European countries. This makes collecting the modern issues of the Netherlands manageable and reasonably completable.
![]() Type A
![]() Type C
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![]() Type B
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Between 1925 and 1930, coil format definitive and child welfare Netherlands stamps were produced with syncopated perforations, to facilitate their separation when dispensed from stamp vending machines. There are four different types of these syncopated perforation stamps, which are all illustrated above.
Reviews of the postage stamp issues of the Netherlands, as well as
occasional historical articles, will eventually appear in the page link
section at the upper right.
All of the content pages in this Netherlands category are presented, as chronologically as
possible, by a combination of the N.V.P.H. Postzegels van Nederland & Overzeese Rijksdelen catalog, the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, and the Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue.
For anyone seriously considering specialization in Netherlands stamps, the N.V.P.H. specialized catalog is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. The Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue is completely inadequate for specializing in most European countries. A link to the N.V.P.H. catalog is provided below.
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Return to Home Page from Netherlands Stamps
Definitives 1852-1894
Definitives 1891-1896
Definitives 1898-1924
Definitives 1924-1930
Definitives 1926-1939
Definitives 1940-1948
Definitives 1949-1951
Commemoratives 1907-1924
Commemoratives 1933-1936
Commemoratives 1937-1939
Commemoratives 1943-1945
Commemoratives 1948-1952
Charity Stamps 1906-1927
Charity Stamps 1928-1932
Charity Stamps 1933-1936
Charity Stamps 1937-1939
Charity Stamps 1940-1945
Charity Stamps 1946-1950
Air Mail Stamps 1921-1980